Sparkling Pointe and Pork Belly Benedict Take Over at Wading River’s La Plage

Posted February 24, 2012 by Dave Seel in Regions

By Dave Seel, Long Island Food Correspondent

It seems every time I decide to eat at La Plage, I can’t remember how to get there. It’s somewhere near Wading River by the beach, hence the name “La Plage,” but the exact route I take always seems to allude me. Eventually though, I do happen upon Sound Road that winds me to the small restaurant.

For years now, Chef Wayne Wadington has been making waves across the North Shore with his eclectic, French-inspired cuisine. Clean, straightforward and always delicious, Wadington’s food is based upon fresh, seasonal ingredients. Recently, my wife and I visited for their Valentine’s Champagne Brunch with Sparkling Pointe, Long Island’s sparkling wine-only winery.

While I have yet to visit Sparkling Pointe’s North Fork tasting room, I’ve become a fan of their sparkling wines from various tasting events around the region.

We started the brunch off with their 2007 Brut. A pale sparkling wine, it has a wonderful, balanced texture with notes of apple and pear. This was paired with gougeres as an amuse bouche. Unfortunately, the small puff alone did little to “amuse” our palate. The flavor was a bit milder than I like in gougeres. However, this mild cheese taste did help to highlight the wine, and thus served its purpose.

We both chose the homemade lobster ravioli as our next course. I always jump at the chance to try a chef’s homemade pasta and Chef Wadington’s did not disappoint. Homemade pasta has a wonderful soft, delicate texture when made well. The ravioli melted in our mouths, giving way to delicious buttery lobster. The tomato-based sauce, created with a homemade seafood stock, had a nice creamy, briny taste that complemented the lobster perfectly.

The course was accompanied with Sparkling Pointe’s 2006 Blanc De Blancs. A beautiful golden color, this wine surprisingly held up to the brininess of the sauce and its almond, pear, and buttery notes paired perfectly with the lobster.

The best moment of the meal arrived with my main course: Berkshire pork belly eggs benedict. I still have dreams of this dish. Seriously. I do.

Crisp, smoked, maple-syrup glazed pork belly topped with perfectly poached eggs and a rich hollandaise sauce. It was eggs benedict-meets eggs with bacon, taken to a whole new level. Again, the dish was simple, but the flavor was astounding.

My wife’s main course was a bit more befuddling. She ordered the char-grilled yellow fin tuna salad Nicoise style. Hoping to receive a beautiful Nicoise salad topped with a piece of lightly grilled tuna, she was disappointed to see the tuna had been “mayonnaised”. Coming from a mid-western family who puts mayo on everything, she was less than thrilled. So I shared my glorious pork belly with her, which turned out to be enough for both of us.

I ate the rest of the salad, which was actually quite good. The grilled flavor of the tuna made it through the mayo and it was a fresh addition to the richness of the pork belly.

The main course was paired with one of Sparkling Pointe’s top wines, their 2002 Brut Seduction. Again, I was impressed when this sparkling wine stood up to the richness of my pork dish. With notes of ginger and apple, the velvety mouth feel gave a light, but flavorful complement to the savory and sweet pork belly.

We finished off the meal with a passion fruit ice cream sundae and a final tasting of Sparkling Pointe’s NV Cuvee Carnivale. The cuvee is a slighty sweeter-style sparkling wine, which generally I’m don’t prefer, but was a nice touch with our dessert. The citrus and floral notes paired well with the sweet vanilla and fruit flavors of the sundae.

Finishing with an espresso, we chatted with Sparkling Pointe winemaker, Gilles Martin. We learned Martin is now working on a 100% pinot sparkling wine to be released in the coming months. He is also hosting many tasting dinners across the region as well as at the Sparkling Pointe tasting room. It’s indicative of their commitment to making sparkling wine accessible to many palates.

After the meal, we took a short walk on the beach to take in the whole experience. The reminiscence of sparkling wine combined perfectly with the salty air of the Long Island Sound. One of the wonderful aspects of La Plage is the reflection of its place along the water in its cuisine. Alongside the beach, it merges the sea and land on a plate bringing the flavors of French cuisine and Long Island ingredients to life. Whether visiting for brunch or dinner, it’s a wonderful spot for an adventure…if you can find it, that is.